2020 Interdisciplinary Research Leaders Grant

Sa Liu, Asst. Professor HSCI, corresponding PI, and her co-project directors Dr. Jennifer Johnson, in the department of Anthropology, and community partner Ms. Deborah Corcoran, Community Outreach Coordinator in Martinsville IN,  have received a 2020 Interdisciplinary Research Leaders (IRL) grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for their project “Groundwater Contamination and Health Equity in a Deindustrialized Midwestern Community.”  The 3 year project’s goal is to improve how information on exposure risk is produced and consumed to motivate meaningful improvements in health outcomes and health equity in real world communities.

Interdisciplinary Research Leaders (IRL) is a national leadership program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for teams of researchers and community partners. These teams use the power of applied research—by working with the community to explore critical issues and apply the findings—to advance health and equity. Their innovation helps build a Culture of Health, one that enables everyone across the United States to live longer, healthier lives.

Each year, a new class of fellows from across the United States begin the IRL program and have the opportunity to build their leadership skills, implement a community-engaged, action-oriented, and rigorous research project, and learn effective strategies to increase the impact of their research through dissemination, communication, and community organizing. Collaborating across sectors and disciplines, the fellows build connections between factors that shape health, well-being, and equity—such as education, neighborhoods, social services, income, and faith.